The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1887-02-03
TEMPERANCE.
AlCOHOl's EFFECTS.


Neither Food Nor Medicine. II IL slow
Poison 20 the Humsu System.
There are, unfortunately, great |
many good, honest people in this land
Of ours, who have the impression fixed
in their minds that beer, and wine, and
whisky, are, in some manner, of use in
the human system. They decry the
immoderate use Of rum, yet cling to
the idea that in small quantities it is
not harmful, but rather beneficial.
This error-for error it isis un-
fortunately supported by large num-
ber of doctors, especially those OF mar
row reading and limited educational
advantages in early life and in the
study of the theory of medicine. The
best educated physicians of the present
unhesitatingly agree that rum-or its
active principle, alcohol-is not only
not food, but that even as a medi-
cine it can be dispensed with, its place
being supplied by safer remedies. which
will produce better effect, with none
of the evil results which the use Of al
cohol entails.
The class Of conservative, or poorly
educated physicians have, as rule, no
personal Investigations nor experience
in the matter, but merely quote the
theory proposed by a medical writer Of
some repute, a number Of years ago,
that up to certain point, alcohol Is
consumed or disposed of in the human
system; that up to this point alcohol is
not only harmless, but acts the part of
a food, and this limit is fixed at from
an ounce to an ounce and half Of al
cohol per day. Above this limit
which was assumed to vary with differ
ent ndividuals-alcohol was admitted
to be injurious to the drinker. This
theory you will find quoted by medical
men to-day, in the most grave and i'm
pressive manner, Notwithstanding the
act that its fallacies have been shown
up, its conclusions have been proved
unsound, and the whole thing relegated
for long time to its proper place
among the exploded and untenable
theories Of the past.
What, then, is the effect upon the
body of taking alcohol, in any of its
many forms, into the human systemp
1t must be placed among some one of
these five classes Of substances:
First-Among the true foods, which
supply new material for the building
up of the bodily tissues, and supply
nerve-force or heat;
Second-As one Of the accessory
foods, which, while not performing the
Office of true food, yet facilitate nutri-
ton, like salt or the acid principles Of
fruit;
Third-As medicine, to correct i'm.
paired functions of the different or.
gans;
Fourth-As poison, which produces
injurious effect upon the tissues or func
tions;
Fifth-As an inert body, which pass
es through the alimentary canal with
out being absorbed or producing any
effect whatever, as does small seed
for instance.
Alcohol must necessarily belong Il
one of the above five classes, as they
cover all possible cases of articles which
are taken into the stomach. 1t is plail
that it does not come under the fiftl
class. Every one knows that. 1t pro
/ duces certain effects, which differ in de
gree but not in kind, owing to tn
amount taken into the system. Let as
then, inquire what are those effects, il
order that We may decide under whicl
. of the first four heads it shall be classi
fed. If a capsule be filled with alcohol
SO that not particle touches the tongu
or mouth, in few minutes Its odo
will be perceptible on the expired
breath. This shows that it is bein,
thrown off by the lungs in an unchange'
state.
} A chemical examination Of the per
spiration and urine shows that the
contain alcohol in an unchanged state
, Thus we have it demonstrated that tn
: lungs. the kidneys and the sweat-gland
of the skin-three great execretor,
, agencies Of the body-set to wor
. as soon as the alcohol gets int
: the blood to work it out of the system
It is excreted in an unchanged state
7 it is alcohol, nothing more or less
= AACuCC ~ Cau hOt UC AOOus AIuC AOOu
. are assimilated by the system, and
s after performing their functions q
: producing heat or force, or building u
Q the tissue, are excreted in an entirel
? different chemical form from the orig
!; inal one. Sugar, for instance, is
h heat-producing food. 1t is thrown o
r from the lungs, not as sugar, but Q
t carbonic acid gas-and from the othe
i excretory organs in various combin.
0 tions, but not as sugar. The same
= true Of all other true foods. Not or
OF them is thrown off in an unchange
It form. Hence alcohol is not food.
}; Then which of the other three class,
It does it come under? Is it an accessor
k food-does it facilitate natures pr
r cessesP The universal voice of Il
n highest medical authorities is that
n does exactly the opposite. 1t hinder
n digestion, for example. Now in tn
d we know the popular opinion is ju
d the opposite. At state dinner. fl
" instance, when a very large quantity
e food is taken into the stomach, the gel
D eral idea is that liquor of some kind
n wine or brandy-facilitates digestio
N by aiding the stomach in the work I
% getting rid of the mass of food. II